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The emotional nadir of Smith’s career is well-documented, but Smith only recently revealed his response to a boo-filled 27-24 loss to the Eagles on Oct. 10, 2010.

By the game’s finish, Smith had lost just about everything: any shred of support from a fed-up fan base, all five games as a starter in 2010 and an NFL-high 10 turnovers.

With nothing left to lose, he gained the confidence to play quarterback his way.

Previously given vague instructions to “go make a play” when 3rd-and-longs arose, the brainy Smith decided to make what he viewed as the intelligent play. He’d take what the defense offered, wouldn’t force heroic throws that often ended hellishly and would play efficient, mistake-limiting football.

Boring? So be it. Would it upset his coaches? “To be 100 percent honest,” Smith said, “I didn’t care.”

Yes, the failed gunslinger with an expiring contract would say so long to San Francisco on his terms.

“Toward the end of that season, obviously, it wasn’t looking good,” Smith said. “It was the last year of my contract. I was determined – it was kind of like ‘Screw this.’ I’m going to just go out there and play good football. I had nothing left to worry about. I’d hit the low and I had nothing else to worry about at that point. I was going to … let the chips fall where they may.”

After the chips fell, Smith’s stats rose.

In the first five games of 2010, he threw nine interceptions in 190 attempts and compiled a 71.6 rating. In his final six games, a scattered stretch interrupted by a shoulder injury and two benchings, he threw one interception in 152 attempts and posted a 95.5 rating.

Although few noticed, the transformation had begun. And then Smith joined forces with Harbaugh, a head coach who endorsed his approach.

“I kind of put some decent football together at the end of that (2010) season and it led into last year,” Smith said. “I continued to play that way and it was reinforced by coach Harbaugh. It was pushed. It was encouraged: ‘Play this way. If they’re giving you the check down on 3rd-and-10, take the check down.

” ‘Obviously, we lost on first and second down. The answer isn’t forcing a play on 3rd-and-10.’ I really felt like, the couple years prior to that, that’s what was demanded: ‘You’ve got to make this happen.’ ”

In other words, Smith has counterintuitively altered the trajectory of his career: By doing less, he’s accomplished more.

Last year, he threw five interceptions in 445 attempts, tying the mark for third-fewest picks in NFL history (minimum 400 attempts). He finished the season without being intercepted in 159 attempts, topping Joe Montana’s best streak (154) and moving within 26 attempts of breaking Steve Young’s franchise record.

And he was proficient at more than avoiding mistakes. He directed six fourth-quarter comebacks and some were spectacular. In a 20-point comeback win against the Eagles, his 154.3 second-half rating was the best by a 49ers quarterback in 18 years. In the divisional-playoff victory against the Saints, he became the only quarterback in NFL history to direct two lead-changing touchdown drives in the final three minutes of a playoff game.

He made history – and plenty of plays – but Smith said it was a matter of just making his reads.

“I felt like I was just the distributor,” Smith said. “I went back and distributed. And I enjoyed playing that way, it was just football. I just went out there and played football. There wasn’t any extra anxiety I had that I had to go out there and do something crazy.”

Still, Smith oversaw an offense that ranked 31st in third-down conversions and 30th in red-zone touchdown percentage. The 49ers, buttoned-up offensive approach often earned him the title of “game manager” rather than game changer.

Now, entering 2012, there are questions about his ability to direct what some anticipate will be an opened-up offense that’s added downfield threats in wideouts Randy Moss and Mario Manningham. ESPN analyst Jerry Rice recently wondered when the 49ers would take Smith’s “diaper” off and “let him be a grown man.”

Smith takes it in with a bemused smirk. It’s nothing compared with the sound of 60,000 venomous fans chanting for his backup to enter the game.

“I think it goes back to 2010, I really don’t care,” Smith said. “That was kind of a spot where I hit bottom and said, ‘I’m not going to care about this crap.’ … We’re different around here. Coach Harbaugh and his staff, we’re kind of old school a little bit. And we take pride in the fact of – let them try to pigeonhole me: ‘Oh yeah, he’s the manager. He throws check downs and screens the whole day.’ Let them do that. Let them walk out on Sundays saying that. It’s just fine with me.”

Like his more measured approach to quarterbacking, Smith says Harbaugh has also reinforced his disinterest in outside opinions.

So he’s presumably not bothered that many think his turnaround coincided with Harbaugh’s arrival.

In truth, it began after Smith hit bottom and decided to play his way.

The stats show it was the correct decision: Alex Smith hasn’t made many mistakes since.

Where he ranks

Is Alex Smith a top-10 NFL quarterback? He is by one measurement. In his past 24 games, Smith has completed 395 of 665 passes for 4,780 yards, with 30 touchdowns and six interceptions, compiling a 92.81 rating. Here’s how he compares to the NFL’s top quarterbacks over their past 665 attempts, including any playoff games: